BREAKING: Lawmaker close to Kremlin tweets that Edward Snowden has accepted Venezuela's asylum offer.
— The Associated Press (@AP) July 9, 2013
This morning, media outlets scrambled to report a tweet from a Russian lawmaker announcing that NSA leaker Edward Snowden accepted an asylum invite from Venezuela, a pretty crappy country.
According to translations passed around Twitter, Alexei Pushkov, head of the Russian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, tweeted, “Snowden has agreed to the proposal of politician Maduro. Apparently, this option seemed the most reliable.”
Here's the tweet that Russian politician @Alexey_Pushkov tweeted and deleted about Snowden asylum via @aptronym pic.twitter.com/41Zz3alk1e
— Anthony DeRosa ? (@Anthony) July 9, 2013
Pushkov: "As might be expected, Snowden has agreed to the proposal of politician Maduro. Apparently, this option seemed the most reliable"
— Anthony DeRosa ? (@Anthony) July 9, 2013
@mchancecnn @albericie Screenshot of translation by @WilliamsJon pic.twitter.com/tDQbRR8Lay
— aptronym ® (@aptronym) July 9, 2013
But not so fast. The tweet was deleted, but Russia is about to learn that Twitchy is forever:
UPDATE: Russian official deletes tweet about #Snowden asylum
— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 9, 2013
Aaaand @Alexey_Pushkov has deleted his tweet about Snowden + Venezuela.
— Miriam Elder (@MiriamElder) July 9, 2013
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Asked Putin's spokesman about Snowden–>Venezuela: "I have never heard anything about that." Welcome back to confusion land.
— Miriam Elder (@MiriamElder) July 9, 2013
When Pushkov came to shove, he deleted the Tweet. #snowden #jokes
— Ben White (@morningmoneyben) July 9, 2013
Heh. Yes he did. But Pushkov wasn’t done yet. In two additional tweets, he reported that he learned of the accepted asylum offer the way President Obama learns of just about everything: on the news.
Информация, что Сноуден принял предложение об убежище от Мадуро пришла из 18-часового выпуска "Вести 24". По всем вопросам обращаться к ним
— Алексей Пушков (@Alexey_Pushkov) July 9, 2013
Как сообщили Вести 24 со ссылкой на Мадуро, Сноуден принял его предложение об убежище. Если это так, то он счел этот вариант самым надежным.
— Алексей Пушков (@Alexey_Pushkov) July 9, 2013
Ha TT @Alexey_Pushkov Info that Snowden took Maduro's asylum offer came from 6pm news on Vesti-24. All questions to them.
— Miriam Elder (@MiriamElder) July 9, 2013
The Associated Press has since adjusted its report.
Influential Russian lawmaker tweets that Snowden accepted asylum offer in Venezuela, then the tweet is deleted: http://t.co/KDcNsQky0C
— The Associated Press (@AP) July 9, 2013
According to the AP, “[No] such information [about Snowden accepting asylum] could be found on Vesti’s website and no Russian news agency reported that Vesti had reported it. The TV channel could not immediately be reached for comment.”
Stay tuned for more “Where in the World is Edward Snowden?”
Update:
According to Wikileaks, Snowden has not formally accepted asylum in Venezuela.
http://twitter.com/wikileaks/statuses/354657478803329024
http://twitter.com/wikileaks/statuses/354658687358468098
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